Islamic nationalism
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Islamic nationalism, also known as Muslim nationalism, is a form of religious nationalism that seeks to advance Muslim interests by combining nationalism with Islamism. It holds the view that all Muslims constitute a single nation, known as the Ummah, by virtue of their adherence to the Islamic religion and should unite under a single universal Islamic state. As such, it is often equated with pan-Islamism. Critics argue that nationalism is inherently incompatible with Islam, as Islamist ideology rejects the Western notion of nation-states, which usually appeal to unity based on linguistic, cultural, ethnic, and territorial factors.[1][2]
Examples
[edit]Pakistan
[edit]Unlike the secular form of nationalism which is espoused in most other countries, Pakistani nationalism is religious in nature, consisting of Islamic nationalism. Muslim nationalism is an essential part of the creation of Pakistan. Before India's independence, the All India Muslim League first espoused the interests of India's Muslim minority and in the face of the impending independence of India, switched its position to demand freedom from India's Hindu majority in the form of the creation of Pakistan.
While religion was the basis of the Pakistani nationalist narrative[3] the country's creation can easily be seen as the one form of the culmination of Muslim nationalism in South Asia, especially of the kind of Muslim nationalism lead by Muhammad Ali Jinnah's All India Muslim League. Pakistani nationalism is closely associated with Muslim heritage, the religion of Islam, and it is also associated with pan-Islamism, as it is described in the Two-nation theory. It also refers to the consciousness and the expression of religious and ethnic influences that help mould the national consciousness. Pakistan has been called a "global center for political Islam."[4]
Palestine
[edit]Hamas views Palestine as a holy land and considers it a primary front for jihad, framing its resistance as an Islamic way of fighting Israeli occupation. The group has sought to fuse Islamism with Palestinian nationalism, presenting itself as a nationalist movement with an Islamic nationalist agenda, distinct from secular nationalist movements. Article 12 of the 1988 Hamas charter asserts that "Nationalism from the point of view of the Islamic Resistance Movement is part and parcel of religious ideology."[5][6]
Xinjiang/East Turkestan
[edit]The Turkestan Islamic Party is an Al-Qaeda-inspired Uyghur nationalist, pan-Turkist, and jihadist organization seeking to create an Islamic state based around Sharia law called "East Turkestan" which would immediately include all of the Chinese province of Xinjiang, with the gradual goal of including parts of Turkey and Pakistan and all of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan.[7] They have been in contact with other Salafi jihadist movements for decades, with direct financing from Osama bin Laden and connections with the Taliban, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham, and Pakistani government.[8] However, after the Taliban victory in 2021, the TIP was expelled by the new government in hopes of receiving development aid from China.[9] TIP also has a branch in Syria which has been aligned with the Free Syrian Army, and more recently with the new Syrian transitional government.[10][11] The Syrian branch has been known for various human rights abuses, including the use of child soldiers and participating in the Alawite genocide of 2025.[12][13][14]
References
[edit]- ^ Hutchins-Viroux, Rachel; Tranmer, Jeremy (2009-01-23). Nationalism in the English-Speaking World. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 63–65. ISBN 978-1-4438-0469-1.
- ^ Roy, Olivier (2003). "Islamism and Nationalism". Pouvoirs (in French). 104 (1): 45–53. doi:10.3917/pouv.104.0045. ISSN 0152-0768.
- ^ Ahmed, Ishtiaq (27 May 2016). "The dissenters". The Friday Times. Archived from the original on 26 July 2020. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
- ^ Ḥaqqānī, Husain (2005). Pakistan: between mosque and military. Washington: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. p. 131. ISBN 0-87003-214-3. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
Zia ul-Haq is often identified as the person most responsible for turning Pakistan into a global center for political Islam. ...
- ^ Dalacoura, Katerina (2011-04-29). Islamist Terrorism and Democracy in the Middle East. Cambridge University Press. pp. 66–67. ISBN 978-1-139-49867-8.
- ^ Abhyankar, Rajendra M. (2008). West Asia and the Region: Defining India's Role. Academic Foundation. p. 466. ISBN 978-81-7188-616-6.
- ^ Bajoria, Beina Xu,Holly Fletcher,Jayshree. "The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) | Council on Foreign Relations". www.cfr.org.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Bajoria, Beina Xu,Holly Fletcher,Jayshree. "The East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) | Council on Foreign Relations". www.cfr.org.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Standish, Reid (11 September 2023). "Taliban 'Removing' Uyghur Militants From Afghanistan's Border With China". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
- ^ Hage Ali, Mohanad (2 March 2016). "China's proxy war in Syria: Revealing the role of Uighur fighters". Al Arabiya English.
- ^ "China's proxy war in Syria: Revealing the Uighur fighters' role". Saudigazette. 4 March 2016.
- ^ Weiss, Caleb (29 September 2016). "Turkistan Islamic Party in Syria shows more 'little jihadists'". FDD's Long War Journal.
- ^ "Red Flag Alert for Syria: Genocidal Sectarian Violence against Alawites | Lemkin Institute". Lemkin Institute. Archived from the original on 12 March 2025.
- ^ Michael, Maggie (30 June 2025). "Syrian forces massacred 1,500 Alawites. The chain of command led to Damascus". Reuters.